The Keeper's Snake // Sebastian Sallow

Long Over Due

The quidditch game on Thursday was entirely unremarkable, except that it was extremely cold. Sebastian was sure the black lake had frozen over. Slytherin and Gryffindor seemed to be playing rather evenly, but Slytherin ultimately won when Nerida Roberts caught the snitch an hour into the game. Sebastian didn't particularly care whether they won or lost because he knew Fiona was cheering for him in the Slytherin stands. That was already a win for him.

He tried to convince her to sneak into Slytherin for their after party, but a Ravenclaw prefect interrupted their conversation and forced Fiona back to Ravenclaw. Sebastian wanted to skip the party altogether and go to bed. The sooner he could fall asleep, the sooner Friday would come. The sooner he would have his date with Fiona.

Sebastian was stopped on his way to the boys' dorms by Imelda, who wanted him to take a shot of fire whiskey with her.

"Sallow! Drink with me!" Imelda cheered, already intoxicated. She threw an arm around his shoulder.

"No thank you Imelda. I'd actually like to get to bed." Sebastian responded, trying to move out of her embrace.

"Ah right, you need your beauty sleep. You've got a date tomorrow." Imelda slyly spoke.

"How do you know about that?" Sebastian asked. He hadn't told anyone, and he couldn't have imagined Fiona told anyone.

"Constance told me. She wanted me to make sure you left Slytherin tomorrow looking dashing." Imelda shrugged and then left Sebastian. She found Timothy Thomas and persuaded him to take a shot with her. Sebastian laughed to himself, feeling sorry for Imelda's latest victim. Although to be fair, Timothy Thomas seemed to be enjoying her company.

Sebastian entered his dorm and saw Ominis at his desk, presumably writing to Anne. Ominis noticed Sebastian walked in.

"Sebastian, well played today. The way Fiona narrated the game, it seemed like you scored quite a bit." Ominis greeted Sebastian

"I'm not sure why I haven't told you this Ominis. I've a date with Fiona tomorrow evening." Sebastian admitted.

"Is this date confirmed, or are you two tiptoeing around each other again?" Ominis sarcastically asked.

"I would certainly hope not. I told her I loved her on Sunday." Sebastian exhaled. It felt good to talk about his feelings for Fiona.

"Wow Sebastian. I came to believe you would never tell her how you feel. Are the feelings requited?"

"I'm not sure." Sebastian sighed. "I think I overwhelmed her with my confession. So I asked her on a date. She said yes, which I reckon is a good sign."

"I hope the date goes well for you Sebastian. You may not like to believe it, but you deserve to be happy."

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Sebastian and Fiona both had Potions as their last class on Friday afternoon. The whole class received a stern lecture from professor Sharp.

"I've noticed I'm down a bottle of veritasium in the store room. If I find out one of you took it, you can spend the rest of the year serving detention. Or maybe I will have you expelled. I haven't decided yet." Sharp warned his students.

Sebastian noticed Leander and Samantha worriedly whispering, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He decided to ignore them. He had a date to look forward to. When professor Sharp dismissed the class, he raced out of the room before Samantha could 'accidentally' knock over a cauldron. Fiona met him outside the classroom.

"So Sebastian, could you give me a hint of what we are doing tonight?" Fiona began to ask.

"On our date." Sebastian interjected, confidently.